Tour Through Turkey

We began our European vacation with a flight on Turkish Airways from MEX – CUN – IST.  Our check-in at MEX airport was not as smooth as expected.  While waiting for check-in at the airport counter, there was a family ahead of us that took three employees working the business class check-in desk to process them.  We noticed they had not only large bags to check in but also had carry-on bags and small backpacks.  They looked confused, and when they walked away, they only had their backpacks.  We waited about 15 minutes until we were able to begin our check-in. 

While checking in, they asked to see our check-in bags.  We told them we are not checking bags, and we are only carrying on with us our carry-on and our backpack.  We were informed that we must check our bag and then We were then asked to weigh our luggage.  We questioned them and stated this is new to me while flying in business class. We have never had to check our bags before.  We had a three day layover in Istanbul and did not want to check luggage.  After about a 10 minute discussion with their (supervisor), they came back and said “ok you can take your bags.”  This was strange to me.  I wonder if this is why the family ahead of us only walked away with backpacks.  This is the ony isue that I could remember, but the checkin was not smooth and felt like they were still trying to iron out issues. 

We were then invited into the Grand Lounge Elite.  They have two lounges, Grand Lounge Elite and Teraza by Grand Lounge Elite.  The latter was not yet open, so we stayed in the Grand Lounge Elite until the Teraza was open. 

We left the lounge about 15 minutes early to get some exercise.  While waiting at the gate, we noticed about 7 people who were being escorted by Immigrations.  They were staged right near the gate and boarded them first.  Never witnessed that before, but I found it interesting.  I am going to assume they were people being deported for whatever reason. 

Upon finding our seats for our quick 1.5-hour flight, we quickly got comfortable and enjoyed the experience. 

We were on the ground in Cancun for 2 hours.  Not allowed to leave our seat (although many people were going to the bathroom, and then were scolded upon return to their seats.) This was quie frustrating for me as I had to use the restroom since 30 minutes before landing.  The restroom in the cabin we were in, seemed to be constantly occupied and then we were required to remain in our seats.  

Upon landing, I was expecting to be able to use the restroom.  We were told to remain in our seats while everone departed for Cancun.  One the Cancun passengers departed, they informed us we must stay in our seats while they fuel the plane.  This would take 1 hour.  I was like WTF?  I stayed in my seat, but 60% of the cabin began using the bathroom one by one.  I decided to follow the rules and asked “everyone else seems to be using the restroom can I use the restfroom?”  I was told yes.  As I walked up to the restroom door, I was castised for getting out of my seat?  Like WTF?  By this point, I was pissed.  I thought about using the barf bag and handing it to them but I didn’t.  

We departed CUN for our flight to IST without peeing for 2.5 hours now. 

We landed early in the morning, cleared customs and looked for a kiosk for a sim card.  We are use to beign taken advantage of so finding a kiosk seemed like a chore.  However, we walked up to the Vodafone kiosk and had the most honst, helpful individual help us get a sim card.  

With sim card in phone and a run to the ATM, we took a taxi to our hotel.  We opted to stay in two different hotels.  First being the Grand Hyatt, the first night, and then we transferred to the Double Tree by Hilton Sirkeci. 

The first day, we explored the city. 

By mid day it was hot.  We ended up down by the water and went to the museum taking advantage of the air conditioning. 

After enjoying the cold air, we continued our walk along the waterfront.  We found a nice bar Zebra Lounge, with a view of the Bosphorous Straight. 

After a refreshing drink we made our way back to our hotel, exploring the streets. 

Turkey has an infatuation with cats.  Cats are precious and honored.  This cat is showing how I felt at this point in time. 

At night we made a last minute impromptu booking on a Bosphorous Straight dinner and cruise. Before departure, we were sat at a table and dinner service began.  Drinks were delivered and dinner served.  We were able to converse with the table neighbors.  Next to us, was a mother and son from Texs.  The son was taking his mother on a two week vacation to Turkey. 

Turkish dancing was displayed for a majority of the cruise.  We traveled through the straight about an hour and a half and then turned around and traveled the other side back down to our starting point.  The night view was beautiful.  The lighting and scenery of the beautiful straight was mezmerizing. 

Upon dearbarking the boat we felt safe to walk around at night.  We attempted to make our way back to our hotel.  Attempt successful. 

The following day we moved hotels.  We used a taxi for this journey.  Unfortunately, this day there were many streets that were closed for wahtever reason.  This made it challenging for our cab driver.  The streets our hotel was on, was extremely busy with traffic and pedestrians.  We offered to get out a couple blocks from the hotel and walk.  This was a good move as we saved a lot of time. 

After checking in to our new hotel, we ventured out and went to the grand bazar that was near our hotel.  Then ventured over to the grand mosque. 

I have always seen Grand Bazars on tv and movied, but never expirienced them.  It’s like a big swap meet I used to go to when I was a kid, but most of the stuff is new.  It amazed me how large this was and I questioned why there were so many vendors selling the same thing.  To me this would be like a mall full of coffee shops of different types. 

Obviously I have a bit of “American thinking” and some priveleddge, but I noticed how much of the items for sale were in bulk.  Just imagining, or watching people put their hands, I mean scoop into the pile of goodies, kind of affected me negatively.  I was also thinking about Covid while walking through this building, just thinking what type of illnesses are leaching onto this pile of goodies. 

Next to our hotel was Gulhane Park.  This particular day the park was busy with locals enjoying nature.  The tree’s provided shade from the scorching heat.  Once we readied ourselves we made our way over to the Sultan Ahmed Park and mosques. 

Once out of the park, we decided to have lunch down along the Boshporous Straigth.  We stopped at Sarayburnu Cafe for lunch which was next to the water. 

After a walk through the park, we walked through the Imperial gate to the Mosque. 

After exiting the Mosque, we ended up in another mall area and decided to just go for a walk and see where we ended up.  We walked along the streets of Istanbul, along with water, some back alley and eventually made it to our hotel.  Nearing our hotel we walked by some goodies and decided we needed to have a cup of tea. 

I’m going to call this area, the area of outdoor restaurants.  It looked like they were just about to open up. 

The window of goodies.  This is what provoked us to stop for tea. 

Istanbul was more than I could imagine.  Initially I was not looking forward to this visit.  However, after I have expirienced Istanbul for just three days, I have decided I would like to spend more time here.  Although not in July.  It was TOO DAM HOT.  The culture, and beauty of the architecture was amazing.